Mundane Post #1109

A nice three day weekend. School has been keeping me busy.

Today I tried to catch up on some of the chores that needed to be done. Really exciting stuff like replacing a toilet and a door frame. The plumbing task is complete but the door still needs a little work.

The oil and plugs in the Miata were replaced this weekend, the odometer reading 111k miles. Filling up the tank today produced a a result of 31 mpg.

The garden is still producing tomatoes, peppers, okra, and cantaloupes thought it is mostly unattended.

I just completed a nice box made from black walnut and cherry sapwood. Perhaps that is premature, it still needs to be oiled.

2009 Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car Show

This weekend was the big car show of year. The location this year was at Point Mallard in Decatur. The show seemed smaller this year but it was still very large. (I heard there were over 700 cars but I didn't bother to try to count them.)

I didn't have a vehicle that was road worthy this year so I hitched a ride with my neighbor Brian in his '66 Mustang. We took some chairs, a large canopy, and a cooler and made a day of it.

This was my favorite car this year. Reminds me of my first car, only it was a '76 Mercury and it was yellow.

My neighbor Brian completely out did himself for the 4th of July. Big party, lots of neighbors and the most incredible non-professional fire work show I have ever seen. Happy 4th.

Hiking on Monte Sano

Friday AM I went for a hike on Monte Sano Mountain. Our (David M. and myself) destination was the cuts. This is a pretty cool site on the top of a ridge that is basically a split in a large rock. It is probably about 30 or 40 yards total in length including a decent cave.

It had rained a reasonable amount on Friday so the trails were fairly damp. Downright muddy in some spots.

Having not hiked this particular trail in 13 or 14 years I surprised myself to be able to find the destination without a map. The trek required making the correct turn at about 5 forks in the trail. Even more surprising was that I believe I accidentally took the shortest route. Amazing!

Laugh Out Loud

The very same day I planted my garden, I spotted a rabbit in the back yard and put up a chicken wire fence around the garden to keep the bunnies out.

Today I noticed something new. A little hole covered with grass clippings and bunny fur. And inside the hole are three (or more) little gray bunnies. I didn't notice the bunny clutch on Saturday when I was trimming the grass around the garden so I suspect the bunnies are less than 3 days old.

Did I mention the nest is on the inside of the fence? {Cue Laughter}

OK, I have now re-routed the fence to place the bunnies back on the outside. I also battened down the fence in the spot where I suspect the momma bunny may have accessed the garden interior (and cabbage).

On a related note, my cabbage took on the appearance of Swiss cheese almost over night. By that I mean holey. Today I sprayed some pesticide on it and the okra. After spraying the cabbage, several worms crawled out into sight on each cabbage plant. After inspecting each plant and counting the worms, I gave up on the cabbage, pulled them all from the ground and tossed them into the woods so the bunnies could feast tonight. I had been needing to thin the garden in that area anyway to make room for the ever expanding squash and cucumber vines. I don't think I will be planting cabbage again.

I mentioned the okra was also sprayed. The okra has aphids. I didn't notice the aphids, but I did spot the ants which were apparently feasting on the aphids. Hopefully the pesticide will clear that up whole mess. Once the aphids are gone, the ants will leave too as they don't really care for okra - boiled or fried.

Alabama Jubilee

Yesterday J and I went to a car show at Alabama Jubilee in Decatur. The jubilee is an annual hot air balloon rally. Also included is the car show, a antique tractor show, and some other stuff that currently holds no interest for me. This event falls on the weekend Memorial day each year.

J agreed to the car show under a single condition. He wanted to take pictures of the cars. No problem. He did a great job with the camera and we came home with lots of good pictures.

While at the show, I saw a 1968 Corvette convertible, triple black, which was for sale. The price was reasonable as well. I have been thinking about it.

Today was a wonderful day to be outside.

I drove over the Athens this morning (in the freshly painted Miata) to attend Cars on the Square. It was a really nice show centered around the old downtown square. It was a really big show considering it was only its second year. I ran into several folks I knew while I was there. I also looked over several old Corvettes with for sale signs in their windows. All in all, it was a very pleasant morning.

During the afternoon I finished planting the garden. I added cantaloupe, okra, cucumbers and more corn. For a small garden, I definitely over-planted. I will have to thin it out some once I see which plants are strong.

Ouch!

I forgot to mention I shot myself in the finger yesterday with a nail gun. Fortunately it wasn't loaded but it still hurt. A lot. And it still does.

I just breezed past here and noticed I have been delinquent. And then I was hit with a little deja vu. Last year about this same time the blog was idle for a few weeks. School was keeping me busy then as well. Only about ten more days until I can stop using that excuse for a few weeks.

What's Up in the Shop?

After getting the laundry done, I headed out to the shop the create some more dust. After a couple of hours I had managed to make some new cabinets. I built the case and face frame today. Still need to putty, paint, and hang the doors. That probably won't happen for a week or so.

One can never have too much storage space and cutting up some wood creates more free space.

GMC Progress

This afternoon I put the front wheels on the '72. There was actually more to it than that, but visually that is what you would notice. Also included was the installation of the brake rotors, inner and outer bearings, and other miscellaneous foo foo.

Wood Working SkillZ

Saturday's adventure was hardly as glorious. I re-sawed and planed a few pieces of scrape pine that were originally destined for the refuse bin.

The wood was actually 8 pieces of 2x4, each about 14 inches long. Really too short to be useful. (Unless one decided to make some small boxes to practice making dovetail joints.) I have certainly got a fair amount of use out of these boards. Their last use was as part of a large dolly I built to move the truck frame around on before it had its wheels back on. I recall at that point I was recycling the wood from another project though I don't recall exactly what it was at this point. Not that it matters, but I certainly felt good about using the pieces of that 2x4 three different times on three different projects.

After many past attempts, I did finally manage to get the band saw tuned up sufficiently to re-saw the wood without any wander of the blade. The solution was so simple, I can't believe I hadn't spotted it before. (One of the blade guides was misaligned.)

This weekends camping trip went well. The rain stopped before we arrived at the trail head. We arrived at the trail head around 4:30 or 5:00 pm. We didn't get to hike in very far because the sun went behind the next ridge rather early. The camp site we selected was at a fork in the trail next to a fork in the Sipsey River.

We did enough hiking to suit everyone. Friday evenings campfire was weak due to a lack of time to collect wood, but we made up for it Saturday evening. We enjoyed plently of good food as well.

All in all, it was a great trip. I am looking forward to next trip out in the spring.

We are home from the beach and I resolved the problem with my IP address.

The trip home took about six hours and twenty minutes which included three stops.

Before leaving the beach this morning, I went out on the balcony early enough the see the sun rise. Again, I missed it, not because of clouds this time, but because the sun rose to far to the north. Instead of being above the gulf, it rose behind the condo next door.

Last night we dined at the Crab Shack. The crab dip was excellent.

Some folks staying in the same condos, had their wedding ceremony on the beach Saturday evening. Seems risky to me, what with the possibility of sunburn, seaweed, jelly fish, sharks, thunderstorms, and sand in your shorts.

It is good to be home.

Summer Update


Finals are finally here and I will be finishing up the summer semester next week. It's all good.

Last weekend we went to GA to visit my seester. Or was it to go to Six Flags. Good times.

Weekend Update Posted Mid-to-Late in the Week

The posting has been slow around here lately. This is mostly due to my class schedule for the summer. Not that I am spending a lot of time in class, as I am only in class about 12 hours a week, sometimes slightly less if they let us out early, but still at least 10 hours. The real reason is the amount of time required to complete all of my assignments. The last few weeks has seen me spending anywhere from 40 to 60 hours per week on school. Can you say projects out the wazoo? Go ahead and try to say it. I knew you could. What happened to theSummer of Rick? It is absolutely insane, insane I tell you. Fortunately, all good things must come to an end. There are only about 2.5 weeks left of this semester.

Last Saturday I did manage to find the time to take the Turnip Truck out to the Greater Tennessesseessesseeesse Valley Antique Car Show. (Sorry about that extra eessee.) The trip to the car show was like three separate adventures. Count them.

The forecast for the day was 80% chance of rain all day long starting at 6:00 am. There were no clouds in the sky at 7:00 am so I decided I was going.

#1 Driving to the show. Driving an 83 year old vehicle is always an adventure. Doubly so when you attempt to drive 30 miles at a top speed of 35 miles an hour. No trauma on the trip out but we were amazed to see nearly twice as many cars there at 8:00 am this year than there were last year. Technically, I arrived at 8:10 AM this year. Last year I was right on the bell. When I registered, they gave me registration form #426. I assume that means I was the 426 car to arrive but I doubt it. And yes it was hot. And no, I didn't win any of the door prizes.

#2 Spending the Day at the Show. It was hot, but we came prepared. (We = me + 1 of the Brians) We had a cooler full of ice, a gallon of water, and a nice tent-tarpy-thingy along with several soccer-mom chairs, sans the soccer moms. I walked the parts swap and did not find anything I could live without. I also viewed like 70,000 old cars and trucks. OK, maybe 300. I ran into several people I knew, no surprise, and spent some time talking with Mr. Trailer Queen (Tim T.) who brought his 1924 Studebaker in on a trailer. I gave him the business because I had pretty much driven past his house on my way to the show.

Around 3:30 or 4:00 or something like that It was time to head home. Still no clouds in the sky but a call from home informed me it was raining there and had been for a couple of hours. Complete with dogs and cats.

#3 The trip consists of about 30 miles, probably an equal number heading north and east and unfortunately no roads go north east. As I am heading north, I notice large dark clouds to the east and some lightning. And some more lightning. I decided to change my route home in hopes of going around some of the rain. And lightning. I managed to find a nice bank drive thru to park under just as the rain came rolling in. The truck (and '66 Mustang) sat parked for about an hour while we waited out the rain. Eventually the rain pasted and clouds cleared and the pavement dried up. Still we sat there. Why? Have you ever tried to solve a differential equation in your head?

The rain is heading NE at 6 mph. We have a top speed of approximately 35 mph. The house is approximately 15 miles away almost due east. How much of a head start to we have to give the trailing edge of the rain before we leave so that we get home without driving back into the storm? So then we set there for another 10 minutes after agreeing we should wait at least 15. No patience to be found among us, for sure.

We did not catch the rain on the way home though at times we were just behind it. We experienced a little fine sprinkling but nothing worth blogging about. Getting home mostly dry was a major accomplishment. I guess it is good that I didn't win a door prize at the show for surely that would have used all my luck up leaving me to be drenched all the way home.

And in other news, this weekend is my favorite car show of the year. Yes, it is once again time for the air cooled Volkswagen show at Point Mallard. I will probably wait until Sunday to venture forth. See you there.

...Clutch Replacement...

Several busy days have passed and very little has been done.

Saturday we hit a British/Euro car show in the AM and spent the afternoon at the lake.

Since dropping the transmission, I have been trying to acquire the front and rear seal. Sunday I went to a local auto parts shop. They ordered them, available for pickup 9:30 AM Sunday. Long story short, they were available when they were supposed to be and when they finally showed up, they were wrong.

(Monday and Tuesday I stayed busy with school.)

Tuesday evening I removed the seals from the transmission. I also did some general cleaning and degreasing.

This morning I removed the flex plate and replaced the pilot bearing.

This afternoon, I stopped at the Miata dealer ship to order the seals. They will be in friday afternoon. I also replaced the rear main seal and re-installed the flex plate. And finally I did some more degreasing and general cleaning.

Total time involved, probably about 4 hours. Hopefully I will be ready to raise the transmission this weekend, Assuming the correct seals arrive on Friday.

Weekend Update

We had a busy weekend. For starters we had a most special guest. OK, it was just Terry. The kids were thrilled to see her.

Friday we saw the Narnia movie.

Saturday morning I hit a car show in Decatur at the annual balloon festival. Many nice cars, too hot for me though. After the show, I went to my mothers house were we had a birthday party. The part was to celebrate her, Terry's, and Jordan's birthdays. Speaking of which, today is Jordan's birthday. Terry bought him an MP3 player for his birthday. He has been plugged in ever since.

Sunday. Hmm. Can't recall a clue about Sunday.

Monday we saw the Indiana Jones movie. And I ordered a clutch kit for the Miata. Little Beth and David came over for dinner. And Brian is working on rebuilding the carburetor on his 1966 Mustang. Once it is complete, he is going to finally give in and sell it to G.

This morning I put another coat of paint on the trailing arms of the GMC truck. I haven't touched them in months. Once the Miata clutch is complete, I will probably finally get around to rebuilding the GMC's differential.

Time for school.

Press Button, Get Bacon

I went camping again this weekend. Also to the Sipsey Wilderness. We started at a different trail head and camped at a different site. I don't know where we were relative to the last trip but I plan to check the map later.

We had a small group this time: myself, Brian B., Chad E., David M., and Billy T.

There were a lot of folks (including two Boy Scout Troops) out camping this week. More than I have seen on any other trip. I am not sure if it was the weather or just a more popular area.

The hike in and out included 15 yards through a cave called fat man's squeeze. The packs had to come off to make it through the cave.

We had a nice flat campsite between two ridges with easy access to water. We setup in the fork where a major and minor creek met. It was fairly obviously from looking at the ground that the area was frequented by wild pigs though we did not see any. We did think we heard one the second night.

The evening meals this trip consisted of Jambalaya the first evening and red beans with rice the second evening. Dish duty was easy with the water access only 50 feet away.

Overall it was a great trip.

The Summer of Rick

A friend of mine who we shall call David has termed this The Summer of Rick.

While some would say this event started on Friday, I believe it more accurate to say that it started on Monday. Friday was mostly a normal day - I went to work. And Saturday and Sunday were as usual a weekend.

We had a busy weekend. Friday evening we attended a social. Saturday AM I was planning on taking the Turnip Truck to the a car show. It was rained out. Saturday evening, another social of sorts. Sunday included testing a propane burner I had built in the driveway. The burner sounded like a jet engine. It was really cool. And folks came from miles around to watch. OK, there were only four of us, except when Guy dropped by the strawberries.

The Summer of Rick actually started on Monday. What is this summer?

Monday morning instead of going to work, I went to school. I am now officially a full time college student again. I will be going to school full time summer and fall and then doing an internship as a student teacher in the spring. This puts me on track to graduate (again) in the May of 2009 and begin teaching in the Fall.

The summer is just one season in the Year of Rick.

I am currently 2 days into a 15 day mini-semester. It involves 3 hours in class every morning followed by me attempting to accomplished somewhere, anywhere, near the amount of studying I need to be doing to keep up with the class. The class meets the same number of hours a regular class meets, it is just all being crammed into a 3 week period.

After the first three weeks are over, the normal summer semester starts. Hopefully summer semester will be less painful. I will let you know later.

I went camping this weekend in the Sipsey wilderness. Our camp site had a 100'+ rock wall one side, and a stream on the other. The scenery was spectacular. Lots of rock formations and flowing water. The temperature was perfect all weekend and we only had a couple of minor rain showers. Everyone managed to stay dry.

I saw one rattlesnake too many. And two ticks.

And tonight I will be very happy to be sleeping in a real bed again.

The End.

Can you believe I didn't think I would be able to write a post about camping this weekend without mentioning how many times our trail guide took us down the wrong path? Even so, it was an excellent trip.

Guess who got a sunburn this weekend?

This weekend was the first car show of the season. Mr. Mustang and I took our vehicles to a nearby car show/fund raiser for a volunteer fire department.

This was the second year for the show. The show consisted of about 80 to 100 cars, up from last years count of 18.

It was a bit chilly out so we did not set up our tent, instead opting to sit in the sun to keep warm. We both ended up sun burned. The worst part is that we had a tent and sun block with us. We just didn't use it.

Below you see a 1924 Studebaker. This was the oldest car at the show.



And this old Lincoln won best of show. As you can see, it was parked next to the Turnip truck.

Weekend Update

F1: The first F1 race of the season was this weekend. Hamilton finished first, no surprise there. Of the 22 cars, only 6 finished. Kimi was 9th, Masa DNF. Still pulling for Ferrari. G is dedicated to McLaren. Rubens(Honda) will probably be black-flagged for leaving the pits under a red light putting Kimi back into the points.

Diet: Lost another lb and a half this week. Having achieved my initial goal, I have not yet determined where I am heading now.

GMC: Disassembled the rear diff preparing for some sandblasting.

Melting: No progress.

Other: Attended auction.

Another perfectly good weekend drawing to an end.

23 lbs down.

[1 lb to go]

This afternoon I went outside with the intention of doing something useful such as taking apart a differential or cleaning up the garage. The sky was clear and the sun was bright, but it was just too dang cool to be comfortable. After cranking the 1925 Chevrolet and letting it idle for a few minutes I decided to make the Miata out for a scouting expedition to located a steel supply business. I figured with a heater assist to my fleece jacket, the Miata would be plenty snug with the top down. I left the regular neighborhood and made a beeline for a gas pump. While waiting on the tank to fill up I went ahead and put the top up. Out of now where, clouds had appeared and it was sprinkling. Ce' la vie.

While out on my Sunday afternoon drive, I happened across a 1965 Beetle, for sale. The interior of this car was in really good shape. Rare for such an old car. This little car desperately wanted to follow me home, but alas, I have no place to park it. Maybe next time.

While out, I also did a recon mission to locate Danny's secret hide-away. Mission accomplished however Danny's super hero senses must have alerted him to my pending arrival for he had already escaped and moved on to his alternate secret lair.

For those wondering about truck progress, I got absolutely nothing done this weekend. I also did not do any homework. What did I do?

The new laptop is behaving quite nicely. I hope it lasts as long as the last one did. (7 years?)

[3 lbs to go]

39

Another nice weekend is coming to a close. The kids were out of school today and G and I were both off work. I had a pleasant birthday dinner with my family at Rosie's. I had lunch with a friend who I hadn't seen in a while and I spent the morning working on the truck. (Removing another 16 rivets)

Saturday I helped a neighbor build some cabinets for his garage. We took an early morning trip to home depot and then spent most of the day cutting and gluing boards in my garage. The cabinets turned out nicely.

This may possibly be the last blog post from this laptop. The keyboard and mouse pad have beening acting up for a while. Now the harddrive is making the kind of noise that says "you better back this thing up soon. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am heading for it!". A replacement has been ordered and is on the way. Hopefully it will arrive before this one says goodbye.

21.6 down, [3.4 to go]

"The Earth, she's flat like your head!"

It must be flat for I seemed to have fallen off the edge. Not much to note this week.

In welding class on Tuesday I had an 'ah-ha' moment. I still need more practice though. I may switch from stick welding to mig welding this week as that is really the type of welding I intend to do.

Not much done in the garage this weekend. While it was warmer (per the thermometer) this weekend, it was colder outside (due to the wind).

I helped my neighbor take some pictures of his 1972 Chevrolet C-10. I think I ended up taking about 140 pictures. He is listing it on ebay tonight. (I did get to drive it up and down the street today. Sweet!)

[7.4 lbs to go]

Weekend Update

I got the taxes out of the way this weekend. One less thang.

Yesterday I finished up removing all the suspension leaf spring brackets on the GMC. I have made pretty good progess in the last couple of weeks considering it is winter. I suppose the next step is to drill holes for the related coil spring brackets and then touch up the frame paint. Either that or clean up, blast, and paint the rear differential. So many choices.

Today I made a trip up to Nashville to attend a parts swap. The swap was much bigger than I expected. I went looking for a GMC tailgate, or a GMC core support. Both of these items must be off a GMC pickup. Most parts are interchangeable with a 1967 - 1972 Chevrolet, these are not.

I found and purchased a GMC radiator core support. It is in very good shape. By its appearance, the donor truck spent most of its life in a garage or under a car port. The original paint is in excellent shape, considering the piece is 35 or 40 years old. The common problem with this part is the lower portion at one end is usually deteriorated due to acid from the battery being mounted directly above it. This one had the common problem, though someone had patched it. They did a fairly good job. At first I could not even tell the patch was there. Nice job.

The bargaining process went really well. Here is how it played out. I walked up, gave it a quick glance and asked the gentleman "how much for the core support?" His reply was "$50". I then picked it up and gave it a close inspection. While I inspected the core support, he dropped his price to $40. While I closely inspected the patch on the core support, he dropped his price to $30. He had done such an excellent job bargining the price down for me, I didn't even bother to counter offer. Personally, I think he just didn't want to have to carry it back to his truck. Instead, Brian (neighbor) and I carried it about a quarter mile back to our transportation. Well bought.

I also purchased a 1972 Alabama license plate. Perhaps someday this will be registered to the GMC. Brian also purchased an old Alabama license plate, his a 1966 for his Mustange.

My antique truck got posted on Stovebolt in the gallery. See it here.

This weeks welding class went well. I got a little experience arc welding. Arc welding is very frustrating at first, though I will say two+ hours of welding went by very quickly. This is definitely a learned skill and I haven't learned it yet.

[ 9.6 lbs to go]

Going, Going, ...

Last week I placed an advertisement in the paper in an attempt to sell the 1925 Chevrolet Truck. The ad also appears online.

Today I put the truck on ebay. I have my fingers crossed.

G' worked this weekend so I didn't get a chance to go out for an afternoon cruise. It might have bit a bit chilly with the top down though. (I also didn't get to go scope out the Chevettes Corvettes that are on the market, you know, for research purposes.)

The Barrett-Jackson auction begins Tuesday on Speed. I have the Tivo setup to record the whole thing, 35 hours I think. This will be much easier this year thanks to the writer's strike, without which we might actually have something recorded right now.

Regarding the blasted diet, I lost a little over 5 pounds this week. My goal for next week is another 3. My diet is one of high protein, low carb varieties. My interpretation of that basically means mostly meat, salad, and high fiber vegetables. To make it bearable, I am giving myself one day a week off: Saturday. Saturday is a good choice because I usually have a lite lunch when I am busy playing in the garage and we often have Rosie's for dinner on Saturday night. Mmmmm.

[18.6 lbs to go]

Another Long Weekend
... has been successfully complete. We made two days trips to visit extended family. Wii played quite a few rounds of bowling, baseball, golf, boxing, and tennis. (My shoulder is sore). And we probably ate too many goodies.

This weekend I managed to get the trailing arms for the GMC sandblasted. Progress is good. Hopefully I will get them painted next weekend.

Back to work tomorrow.

Today's Blog Entry is Brought to You By the Letter 'P'

Another key on my computer has quit working. It hasn't quit completely but it is very intermittent. I have a backup though. I have a file with the letter 'p' in it. When the key is not working, I just copy/paste from that file. The list of intermittent keys is now [Page Up], [Page Down], [Delete], [Up Arrow], [Down Arrow], [End], and [P].

Monday I went to the Dentist for a scheduled cleaning. This led to another another appointment on Thursday with an Endodontist. Prior to this week I had no idea what an endodonstist did. Now I know. Root canal. The procedure was needed due to an incident in high school. I walked thru a fight and got hit in the mouth. Two broken teeth. The root canal wasn't as bad I expected. Glad it is over.

Today we went to a family reunion for part of G's family. J & B played horse shoes. When we got home Jordan layed down on the couch to rest his eyes. He claims he did not go to sleep. I have photographic proof showing otherwise. He does not know it yet, but he has a predisposition to napping. Both his parents nap, my parents both nap, and my father said he remembers his grandfather napping, everyday. As the story goes, my great-grand-father lived on a farm. Everyday he would stop working around 11:00 am for lunch. After eating he would listen to Paul Harvey and the he would take a short nap before returning to work. This is a genetic explanation for both napping and my desire to eat an early lunch everyday.

Also today I painted some more truck parts I had been busy blasting in the last few weeks. I painted the rear coil springs, the rear shock mounts, and several miscellaneous brackets and two cross members. Next up: the two trailing arms and then the 'new' rear differential I acquired from the junk yard back in July. Good progress!

What a glorious weekend we had. I got the opportunity to sleep late, work on my old trucks, and play with the kids. The only thing missing was perhaps a little bit of fried okra.

With the new week starting, so did classes. This evening I attended my speech class. After agonizing over the topic/object for a week plus I have finally accepted that it is my fate to use a computer as the point of departure. Sounds easy enough, aye? But what does it really say about me?

Whatever I want it to! After a mere hour I have managed to write a 300 word speech. Based on a typical delivery rate of 125 words per minute, this should put me smack dab in the middle of the 2 to 3 minute goal.

Perhaps your wondering about my computer. Perhaps not. Regardless, the computer I will be presenting is one that I designed and built about 15 years ago. Want to see a picture?

It has been smokin' hot lately. We have had a streak of triple digit days. And a deficit of rain on top of that.

Yesterday evening we had a rapid drop in temperature. In a relatively short interval we had a storm roll in and the temperature dropped from 3-digits down to about 70 degrees. Lots and thunder, lightning, and buckets and buckets of rain.

A little bit earlier in the evening when I arrived home, one of my neighbors crossed the street to let me know that the water conservation level had changed to level 3. Level 3 means even numbered houses like ours are only allowed to use outside water between 12 AM and 4 AM on Monday and Wednesday nights. No other outside water use of any kind allowed. Good thing my neighbor told me. The new level was announced on the news and in the paper. I don't watch the news nor read the paper.

G had to work today and the kids spent the night at Grandmas. What to do, what to do? I decided to take the turnip truck out. My local okra pusher lives just a few miles away. This was my destination. After purchasing a couple of pounds ok okra, I gave Mr. Lacey a ride around the block. He loved it.

On my way back home I stopped by Joe G's. This gentlemen lives a few miles away. He has a 1932 Ford parked in his garage. I have blogged about him at some point in the past. He also enjoyed giving the truck a once over.

And on my way home, again, I stopped by Tammy's to let her family see the truck. I offered to let Ken drive it and he drove the kids around the block.

And then I actually went home.

The truck now has more dirt on it than it has probably had in the last 15 years. During my journey I drove though a patch of gravel. The gravel dust stuck to everything. Nice white dust on glossy black paint. Great!

You may be wondering how the GMC is coming along. I have not even glanced in its direction in a couple of weeks. For a few weeks I was busy with school and right now it is just too hot. It is time to do more sand blasting and I just can't imagine trying to do that with the current temp and humidity.

It was a fine weekend

Saturday I took the turnip truck to the the Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car Show. A stunning 715 vehicles were registered at this show.

My trip to and from the show was unique. I left the house shortly before 7:00 AM. A quick stop to top off the tank and I was on the road. The trip was 25 miles and it took about an hour. I route was mainly 2 lane roads but I did have to get on a 4 lane highway for a couple of miles. No problems though.

Two of my neighbors decided to accompany me to the show. Brian drove his '66 Mustang and Guy his '72 Chevrolet Pickup. We brought a tent, some chairs, and a couple of coolers. The shade was a nice relief from the warm sun.

The truck got a lot of attention. A whole lot of attention. Most were amazed not by its age (1925), but rather by the fact that it was a Chevrolet. It was not the oldest vehicle there. A gentleman from nearby Athens, AL had trailered in a 1925 American LaFrance fire truck.

Great Show.

Bug'n in July 2007

This weekend was also the VW show in Decatur. It was a two day show so I was able to go to it on Sunday. I took quite a few pictures and learned a lot about the little VWs. The cars are fascinating. A good mixture of vintage and newer, original and customized. The entire show is held under a large pavilion which is nice and cool even in July. This is my favorite show to visit. And there is definitely a Beetle in my future, though probably a very distance future. (I have to finish the 1972 GMC first.)

GMC Update

Sunday afternoon I removed a few more rivets from the new/old LWB frame. Only ten more to go and I will have everything off the frame that I need. I can then start the sand blasting process on the rear suspension componenents.

I will eventually need to remove the leaf spring brackets from the old/old SWB frame. This will be a minimum of another 16 rivets I will defer this task for a while.

This weekend was very busy. I think I need another weekend to recover.

And That Is A Good Thing!

It has been a long weekend and that is a good thing.

This afternoon I didn't get back to the rivets. And that's OK.

This evening I took several trips around the block in the turnip truck so that I could give everyone a ride. Some neighbors came over to look at the truck. I ended up giving them each a ride and then I took a truck load of kids for a round. I let the adults drive. They seem to enjoy it after getting over their initial concern that perhaps the truck is fragile! If it were fragile it would not have lasted since 1925.

Weekend Getaway

Ginger and I made a quick weekend getaway to Nashville Friday & Saturday. We stayed in a hotel near the Opryland Hotel. We enjoyed a nice dinner there and took and indoor boat ride. The Opryland Hotel is an amazing place to visit.

Saturday we visited the Lane Motor Museum. Ginger found a few cars she wanted to bring home. Unfortunately we were not in the Tahoe so we didn't have room for them in the back. My favorites were the Fiats (especially the Topolino [think Italian Volkswagen Beetle]), the Austin Minis, the Morris Minis, the MGs. Here is a complete list of their cars. Take a look at the Honda S600 and S800 , and the Datsun 1200. (There is a Datsun 1200 in a junk yard near here.) These are definitely some cool convertibles.

Saturday after returning home I removed 22 rivets from the pieces of rusty metal. No small task. I believe there are another 28 to go. Maybe Sunday.

Saturday was 07/07/07 in case you missed. Were you feeling lucky?

The 4th

I started the 4th with an early more trip to Pitts Salvage yard in Athens. I had arranged to purchase the back half of the frame of a1972 Chevrolet Pickup LWB complete with all the suspension, brackets, and the 12 GM differential. I got a really good price on it too!

I borrowed Lott's trailer and Ginger's Tahoe. David M. rode shotgun. The entire trip took about 2.5 hours. Once home I unloaded the big piece of rusty metal and began planning how to disassemble it as quickly as possible. I am sure my neighbors love looking at it.

I did manage to get the differential, trailing arms, and coil springs separated from the frame and stowed safely in the shop.

I still need to remove 50+ rivets to get all the brackets I want removed from the frame and the frame disassembled. That will be no small task. In the past it has take about 10 minute per rivet. I will need to find a quicker method or this could take forever.

In the Presence of Greatness

We celebrated the 4th by attending a party at the White House. The kids enjoyed playing in the pool and the food was great. BBQ chicken, pork, and ribs. Mmmmm. And fresh corn from the garden.

Weekend Recap

Yesterday after I finally repaired the exhaust leak on the Miata. The one caused by driving over a volley ball sized rock in the middle of a 5 lane road.

Nothing is ever as simple as it needs to be. I had to remove four bolts to replace a couple of gaskets. Exhaust bolts are always a pain, badly rusted, probably due to the intense heat they experience. I managed to twist one of the bolts in half. Fortunately bolts are fairly cheap. It cost me $0.98 cents to replace the bolts.

No more exhaust leak. Finally.

Saturday we went over to Tuscumbia for the Hellen Keller Festival. Terry ran a 5 mile race. I believe Jordan said she came in 165th overall. It was at least 90 F. We also browsed a car show and had lunch with the entire family.

Weekend Update

I have been working a lot lately. Last weekend alone was 22+ hours. Actually that describes several weekends in the last month or so. I promised myself I wouldn't do that again this weekend. I put a maximum limit on this weekend of 12 hours. I was successful if only ever so slightly!

The main reason I was successful was because earlier in the week, my neighbor volunteered to my wife to help me remove some shrubs from our flower bed. I didn't know I needed help, because I didn't know I was going to be doing it.

Yesterday afternoon, during the heat of the day we got started. Using a chain and a Tahoe, we pulled the shrubs from the ground. After egressing from the ground, the root ball had to be attacked with a shovel, pick, hoe, or whatever else was handy to remove the dirt from the roots. This is were we could have used a 50 gallon drum of elbow grease.

In all we removed more than 20 bushes and shrubs. Two of them were 10 feet tall. At this point there is a huge pile of greenery on the curb in front of our house. Luckily the monthly pickup of big stuff is this week, the first full week of the month.

Hopefully next week, I can get back on to the normal schedule and get some work done on the truck. BTW, I found a pretty cool web site called smartflix.com They rent how-to/instructional videos. I found several I would like to see, but the first on my list is "Differential Rebuilding". Yes, that thing is still in the bucket!

Car Season

Well it has certainly been a long weekend. That can only mean one thing. I spent most of it working.

This evening when I got home, my neighbor dropped by to talk about a car show we went to yesterday. Yes, it is car show season again. This summer I hope to visit of a few of them:

1. Cullman - May 13th.
2. Jubilee Ballon Festival. (Cars and Tractors!)
3. The big one at the Delphi Plant. (Several hundred vehicles!)
4. The air cooled VW show. (My favorite show in 2006)
5. WBC

Anymore ?

Summary For iMike

I am home again. The camping trip went well though the weather tried not to co-operate.

For Fridays hike it, we had temperatures in the low 60s. Almost perfect. The hike in was uneventful, except for a broken bottle of pepper sauce at the parking lot.

Friday evenings meal was the traditional ribeye. That was 5 pounds we were definitely willing to hike in.

Saturday we had a thunderstorm. At one point I heard a thunder clap that lasted no less than 30 continous seconds.

A couple guys (David and Alan) went for a hike Saturday morning. They were out when the bottom fell out. Even with parkas, they were totally drenched. The rest of us (myself, Billy, and Chad) hung around camp and kept the fire burning. This was a bit of a challenge at times.

Saturday during the rain storm I had a drip in the tent and a small puddle accumlated. This was resolved by simply tensioning up the rain fly. This is a rookie mistake, so I had no excuse. Chad had a drip problem also. His sleeping bag ended up getting wet. I think he came pretty close to burning the tent instead of packing it out.

Sunday mornings was cold. How cold? Don't know. But it warmed up some before the snow started to fall. The snow changed to sleet and then back to a very heavy wet snow. The view over the gorge was pretty awesome with the heavy snow.

Sunday morning we heard a wild Turkey call. Didn't see it though. Actually other than a few ants, we didn't see any creatures.

We saw one other group of campers. They were hiking in Saturday afternoon during the rain. They were headed for one of the other primitive camp sites. Their destination had been undersireable to us. It did not allow campfires. What is camping without a campfire?

The oven got put to good use. We baked bread, muffins, CC cookies, and brownies. Saturday night we had Jambo and red beans and rice.

The cold weather from this morning stuck with me all day. This evening I was still chilled when we went out for dinner, even though it was a warmer 55 degrees outside.

I had a good weekend and I am glad to be home. I enjoyed a warm shower and a nice nap this afternoon. I bet I will sleep good tonight also.

Can we please set the clock back the way it was last week?

Mike phoned in Saturday morning to complain about the fog in Mobile. He was heading for Disney world. Mobile is only about 350 miles from Huntsville. I should have jumped in car headed to Mobile and joined him for breakfast. Not.

I am counting the days until the Miata returns home. Four, maybe three. Possibly two. Definitely not one.

Weekend update: Saturday I sprayed another coat of paint on the cross member. Better safe than sorry. Sunday I did a little spring cleaning in the garage. I swept, organized, and cleaned. I spent no less than an hour doing nothing other than cleaning my wrenches. They are greasy no more.

Even after the cleaning, the garage would still barely resemble organized chaos to the untrained eye. If you have an untrained eye, please stay out of my garage. It's for your own safety.

Anyone want to rotate the tires on the Charger for me?